FAYETTEVILLE — One of the pastimes for Arkansas football coaches is to joke about the Big Ten.
It's all good-natured because most of them either played or coached in that league.
Head coach Bret Bielema played at Iowa and was head coach at Wisconsin; offensive coordinator Dan Enos played and coached at Michigan State; offensive line coach Kurt Anderson played at Michigan; and running backs coach Reggie Mitchell coached at Michigan State and Illinois.
Defensive coordinator Robb Smith (Iowa) and defensive backs coach Paul Rhoads (Ohio State) were also graduate assistants in the conference.
Anderson said he bears the brunt of the jokes because he played for the Wolverines, which won a national championship in his first year on campus.
"Michigan takes a good ribbing on a daily basis," Anderson said. "It's OK. I stay calm, collected and keep my poise because I also know they are the winningest program in college football history."
Bielema has referenced Michigan several times since the Wolverines broke the contract to play Arkansas in 2018 and '19. The Razorbacks will receive $2 million as a result.
Speaking at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club last Wednesday, Bielema said the Razorbacks would play TCU in 2017.
"Unless they Michigan us," he added.
Anderson said he was as upset as anyone to see the Wolverines fall off the schedule. The teams have only played once, at the Citrus Bowl in Anderson's redshirt freshman season of 1998.
"I have friends in the athletic department over there (at Michigan) and I immediately texted them," Anderson said. "I looked up their schedule and I forget who it was, but it was a small opponent and I said, 'You couldn't have dropped them and kept us on the schedule?' I mean, that's ridiculous.
"My kids were upset, so when you upset my kids, you piss me off."